Yes, that's right, our great Pacific Northwest adventure was cut short by a stinkin' virus. We got to spend time in Portland (with a day of hiking at Mt. Hood and dinner in Hood River) and Seattle but skedaddled home quickly, swaddled in N95 masks, instead of continuing on to Vancouver BC via train.
Some highlights from Oregon include loading up my suitcase at Powell’s Bookstore, eating at good food trucks, seeing my friend Michael and his family one night, having slowly paced tea in the Chinese garden, seeing pretty roses on our bike tour of the city, touring a historic mansion and taking a several mile walk in the woods in the city from there to the peaceful Japanese garden, and our Mt. Hood excursion.
On the way to Seattle, we stopped at the Mt. St. Helen's visitor center and refreshed our memories about the events of 1980. It was too hazy to go see the volcano.
In Seattle, we did a great bike tour of the city and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. I also met my friend C.J. for donuts and coffee and hope I didn't get him sick before I knew I was sick.
We had great local beer and wine and a particularly good dinner in Portland and an amazing dinner in Seattle.
And then all of a sudden it was clear I was sick. We did some fast pivoting and ended the trip. And now our dog is keeping a close eye on us, suspicious if we leave the room (or the hammock).
